Some people rely on disposable absorbent products in their everyday lives including, for example, disposable absorbent articles such as adult incontinence products, enuresis pants, training pants, and diapers. Many manufacturers of these absorbent articles seek to better meet the needs of users. For example, there is an ongoing need to improve fit, discretion, and leakage protection for many of these articles.
Some absorbent articles employ elasticization across the front and/or back of the article to keep the article snug against the wearer during use. Some of these articles employ a multiplicity of elastic strands within front and/or back waist panels of the article to provide the elasticization, while others employ elastomeric polymeric films, which are often sandwiched with one or more nonwoven layers.
Most absorbent articles include an absorbent member, constructed from wood pulp fluff, superabsorbent polymers, and/or other absorbent material to absorb fluids (e.g., urine) discharged by the user. The absorbent member is typically positioned in the crotch region of the article and extends forward and backward into the article's front and/or back regions. In some absorbent articles, the elastic members that extend across the front and/or back waist panels of the article overlap the absorbent member at various locations since the absorbent member extends forward/backward into the front/back waist regions of the article.
Some absorbent articles include refastenable seams disposed along the sides of the article to enable the wearer or a caregiver to remove the article by detaching the front region from the back region along the seams. Because the refastenble seams are located along the sides of the article, some wearers find the seams difficult to manipulate. Refastenable side seams can also be difficult for some caregivers of bedridden individuals to manipulate.
Thus, there remains a need for apparatus and processes of manufacturing articles that have refastenable side seams that are easy to manipulate.